Daphne's First Concert

This past weekend was the Fine Arts Fund Weekend - meaning that there are a lot of free arts-related activities throughout the city. Saturday morning there was a concert at the Music Hall for kids, and I thought Daphne would enjoy it, and she certainly did!

The Concert was put on by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and was themed "Bugs". It was great - and afterwards she told Kevin how she saw someone play the piano, like her Daddy, and the "elbow" (oboe), like her Mommy used to.

There were ballerinas that performed too. Daphne now has added ballerina to her list of what she wants to do when she grows up - in addition to being a painter and doctor. And there were lots of fun craft activities for the kids after the performance. She had a spectacular time until a little meltdown because there were no more balloons to make spider balloons at one of the tables.

Showing off her newly crafted headband. How do you like her clothing choices? Daphne is becoming quite the independent lady and very upset if she can't pick out her own outfit.

She also has learned how to use our camera. She was acting interested with the camera and I thought she was going to take a picture of the orchestra but instead she turned the camera around and took a self-portrait.

Rho Chi Dinner

This past Friday was the Rho Chi event (honor society for pharmacists). Kevin was officially inducted last year but we never made it to the dinner because that's when we slipped on ice and fell and my head broke his skull and he got a (mild) concussion. This year we parked in the garage directly beneath the event to prevent any issues with having to walk outside.

Unfortunately, the only picture of us from the event was taken by someone else who was a little shaky with the camera. I can assure you that Kevin is still in the Honor Society and is still very smart and I am still very proud of him and all his hard work!

In fact, Kevin looks so smart that one of the inductees (who looked like she could have been in high school) asked if Kevin was a teacher (meaning college teacher). To further show how old Kevin is --- A few weeks ago, we went to the UC fitness center and one of his former students from St. Margaret of York was working there and is now a 3rd year student at UC!

Kevin's Mom came and babysat Daphne while we were out and I captured a cute picture of them reading a book - after Daphne helped Janet decorate herself.

6 Months Along....

Well, actually two days ago was the official 6 month mark....

The baby is growing well and so am I.

I love the craftiness...

I had President's Day off and finally got around to cleaning and finishing some things around here. First, a jewelry hanging box that I bought the supplies for at least 6 months ago.

Before (but after painting)....

After...

I shamelessly reapplied the idea from a Craftster entry.

My creativity might not be the best but I certainly know how to take other people's ideas and fly with them. Also, I hung the first set of curtains - well, really valences - in our entire house in Daphne's room.

And finished a pair of knitted booties. This idea comes from a pattern from Kevin's cousin, Katie. Thank you - this is the 2nd time I've knitted these.

Now, I'm working on a sweater for the baby. We'll see how that one turns out.

And finally cleaned our hall closet (which had not been cleaned since we moved in - YECH!!). I think I need some more 3 day weekends to get stuff done.

Daphne Hearts her Daddy

Daphne loves her daddy...

And enjoys "studying" with him. I think she would have rather been coloring on his homework, rather than next to him.

Linda, we'll all miss you!

Hope everything goes well for you in Utah!

Watching the wiggles

Kids can fall asleep in the craziest places.

Making Things...

With the weather being so cold and getting even more snow, we've spent a considerable time inside. I do like that the days are getting noticeably longer. And that makes it easier to finish some inside projects and start some new ones. It makes me happier to have a beautiful home and sometimes it just needs some minor updating.

First project was redoing some of the kitchen chairs. I've redone them once before but I didn't put anything under Daphne's booster seat when it was sitting on the chair and it was definitely showing some wear and tear - and horrible food stains that weren't coming out. A trip to JoAnn's

and a few staples and ...some nice new chairs for us.

Old cover on chair (this picture was taken right after it has been originally recovered several years ago). Imagine it with lots of stains - chocolate, pomegrenate, milk, mac 'n cheese, etc....

In the process...

Completed - new pattern! Daphne likes them.
I also cup up an old table cloth to use under Daphne's chair so I wouldn't have to clean that one again.

Daphne started working on some valentine's and has now decided she wants to be a painter when she grows up. Earlier this week, she had wanted to be a doctor (because of a book we were reading from the library).

The artist.
Also, I finished knitting a baby blanket that I had been working on for awhile.

A New Year

Well, I bet you were all wondering whether I would keep up the blog or not in 2009. It is now the 2nd month of 2009 and I'm finally getting on board. I don't know if I'm just tired of sitting in front of a computer after doing so for almost 8 hours at work or just don't like being cold - my hands freeze after typing for awhile. But I am back and armed with more pictures. For those of you whom I only get to see or hear from every once in a while, here's the update:

We went to Brunswick for Christmas. My brother and his family were also there. Kera and Daphne had a great time together (and so did the adults).

Then, we came home and celebrated Christmas at our house. Kevin even let me tell Daphne that Santa came and brought her some toys. Daphne made us some Christmas presents too.

Next day we decided to go to the Children's Museum and to add to Daphne's fun, we took the bus there - it only took 2 hours to get there (usually, it's maybe a 20 minute drive)!!!!

Next day (promise I won't go through each of the next 39 days that I missed blogging), we had our 20 week Ultrasound. That's right - if there is anyone who did not know I am pregnant, I am very much so. And.............it's a BOY!!!! Only 16 weeks left to go (from 2/1/09). We are all very excited and everyday Daphne thinks of a new name for him - such as "Toys" and "Nemo".

To bring in the new year, we celebrated Christmas with the McCabe's . We opened gifts at Maisie's and her brother Ray is now living at the same place she is.

Kevin celebrated his 32nd birthday on January 12th and in honor of his birthday, I got a new minivan and traded in my old Chevy Malibu - not enough room for 2 car seats and the baggage we like to bring up to Brunswick. We got a 2008 Hyundai Entourage, loaded with lots of fun stuff like a DVD player and heated seats (my favorite). If you haven't heard of it, that's probably because it was the worst selling car in 2008 - seriously, check out the article: http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/03/worst-car-sales-forbeslife-cx_jm_1203cars_slide_11.html?thisSpeed=15000

Too bad we didn't know that before buying, we might have been able to work out a better deal!

Kevin also got Guitar Hero for his birthday to go with the Wii we got for Christmas. I think I've played it more than him.

Kevin's family came over and we celebrated his birthday. We also played 5 Crowns, a new card game we got for Christmas (Thanks Mom and Dad). It was enjoyed by all, except I lost miserably.

And last week, we had horrible weather in Cincinnati - snow and ice and snow and ice. Even UC got cancelled for a day, but not my work. If I didn't go in, I would have had to take a vacation day. At least, I got to work at a closer location. So even in all the snow and ice and crappy weather, the new Minivan served me well. Daphne's daycare has never been closed, so on Tuesday I drove her to school before going to work and her school was closed!! Daphne got to see what my work looks like, that is, until Kevin came to pick her up.

Kevin stayed home with Daphne and they both built a snowman.

And what else? 'Lost' has begun again at last, which means we completely ignore Daphne on Wednesday's night. She could be running around naked carrying scissors for all we know. You have to watch every little nuance on that show or you can miss some big connection between characters or storylines. I look forward to catching up on the Lost website. It's been too long since the last episodes....

Hey Dad! - I was right, you owe me money for the Superbowl! Kevin says I won! - and he won halftime.

Hoping it won't be so long until the next time!